Bio

Ernest Patton was born in 1900 in Alabama. He spent part of his early life in Mississippi. In 1929, he met a woman named Creacy Mae Millard, who was 22 years old at that time. They began a relationship and dated until 1932. After that, Ernest moved to McNary, Arizona, where he worked for a lumber company.

At some point, Ernest was married to another woman. They had problems, which led to a division of their property. He later stated that they got divorced in Mississippi. About three and a half months before the events that would change his life, Creacy moved to McNary. Ernest and Creacy renewed their relationship, and she moved in with him.

Ernest had strong feelings for Creacy and was very protective of her. He was described as being jealous, especially of her interactions with other men. Ernest was known to have limited education as he was illiterate.

Murder Story

On December 25, 1936, Ernest Patton shot and killed Creacy Mae Millard in McNary, Arizona. Creacy, who was 29 years old, was Patton's girlfriend. The shooting happened in front of Mack's Cafe. Before the incident, they had been together for a while, and Patton was known to be very jealous.

On that Christmas afternoon, Patton had left Creacy at his house while she got dressed. He visited her brother and then went to the cafe. Creacy left with another young man, Curtis McLemore, to get some beef tallow for her brother. Patton did not object when Creacy left, but he was troubled by her spending time with McLemore.

After returning from their trip, Creacy and McLemore went to the cafe to look for Patton. When Patton saw them, he called for Creacy to follow him. She attempted to leave the car, and as she did, Patton confronted her and shot her three times. The shots hit her side, killing her almost instantly. McLemore was also injured but survived.

Following the shooting, Patton ejected the shells from his gun and expressed anger about the situation. He then surrendered to the police without resistance and admitted to the shooting, claiming he was very angry and did not know what he was doing at the time.

Patton was arrested the same day. He was charged with first-degree murder and later pleaded guilty. Despite the circumstances surrounding the crime, the court determined that there were no mitigating factors to justify the murder. As a result, Patton was sentenced to death. He was executed by asphyxiation using gas on August 13, 1937, in Arizona.